Article

2005-12-04 Britain

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Pappy 2005-12-04 00:00|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Crap like this is what happens when you do like the democrats wanted the US to do: treat a war like a police matter. You cannot fight a war if there are contingency lawyers standing behind each soldier, eagerly awaiting some mistake over which they can sue.

There is also an intentional effort to *confuse* this nanny-behavior will legitimate prosecutions of truly criminal behavior. Being a soldier does not give license to torture, murder, abuse prisoners or otherwise violate the UCMJ. Plenty of soldiers in a war theater are regularly disciplined or even sent to prison for such offenses. And rightly so.

The difference between the two is foresight vs. hindsight. In the US, now, soldiers are starting to be encouraged to use their judgement as to when to use force in a questionable situation. Iraq has generally become too peaceful to continue with a "shoot first and ask questions later" attitude.

If the soldier has doubts as to whether to "take the shot", it isn't a bad idea to ask his superior, assuming no imminent risk, otherwise. This is foresight. Having someone there who will back your play, either way. You have reached a point where it is actually better to *not* kill somebody who deserves it, rather than to accidently kill someone who doesn't. More peace than war.

Hindsight is leaving the soldier in a state where he must solely rely on his own judgement, without having good advice, but then possibly to face punishment because someone not there decides, after the fact, that he did something wrong.

Even in the civilian world, in a real police matter, you see how screwed up it can become.

Let us say some naked, drug-crazed individual is walking down the street in a suburb, randomly firing a shotgun.

The police gun him down, then are attacked for having used "excessive force", whiners even complaining that they should have used non-lethal means. "Couldn't you have just arrested him without hurting him? (snivel) He was a good boy and they murdered him!"

The police have to contend with this crap all the time. However, this is not what soldiers should have to put up with. It demoralizes them, and makes them hesitate in dangerous situations.

Posted by Anonymoose 2005-12-04 09:05|| 2005-12-04 09:05|| Front Page Top

23:55 skidmark
23:40 Canuck
22:44 Frank G
22:39 Old Patriot
22:24 Redneck Jim
22:23 Ray Robison
22:21 bigjim-ky
22:19 Mike
22:16 Penguin
22:12 Old Patriot
22:11 Atomic Conspiracy
22:09 BH
22:08 BH
22:05 BH
21:43 Gligum Flirong8978
21:31 Jackal
21:30 Old Patriot
21:29 Frank G
21:25 Jackal
21:19 tu3031
21:11 Old Patriot
20:55 Frank G
20:54 Anonymoose
20:49 Anonymoose